[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 28 (Friday, February 10, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7382-7385]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-1906]
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Part V
Department of Education
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Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview Information;
Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program; Notice Inviting
Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006; Notice
Federal Register / Vol. 71, No. 28 / Friday, February 10, 2006 /
Notices
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education; Overview
Information; Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program;
Notice Inviting Applications for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number: 84.364A.
Dates: Applications Available: February 10, 2006. Deadline for
Transmittal of Applications: April 11, 2006. Deadline for
Intergovernmental Review: June 12, 2006.
Eligible Applicants: Local educational agencies (LEAs) in which at
least 20 percent of the students served by the LEA are from families
with incomes below the poverty line based on the most recent
satisfactory data available from the U.S. Census Bureau at the time
this notice is published. These data are Small Area Income and Poverty
Estimates for school districts for income year 2003. A list of LEAs
with their family poverty rates (based on these Census Bureau data) is
posted on our Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/eligibility.html.
Estimated Available Funds: $18,901,586. Contingent upon the
availability of funds and quality of applications, the Secretary may
make additional awards in FY 2007 from the list of unfunded applicants
from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $30,000-$300,000.
Note: Actual award amounts will be based on the number of
schools and students served by the project.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $190,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 100.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 12 months.
Full Text of Announcement
I. Funding Opportunity Description
Purpose of Program: The purpose of this program is to improve
student reading skills and academic achievement by providing students
with increased access to up-to-date school library materials; well-
equipped, technologically advanced school library media centers; and
well-trained, professionally certified school library media
specialists.
Priority: Under this competition we are particularly interested in
applications that address the following priority.
Invitational Priority: For FY 2006 and any subsequent year in which
we make awards based on the list of unfunded applicants from this
competition, this priority is an invitational priority. Under 34 CFR
75.105(c)(1) we do not give an application that meets this invitational
priority a competitive or absolute preference over other applications.
This priority is: Under this priority the Secretary strongly
encourages applicants to focus their efforts on elementary schools in
order to maximize the impact of the project on improving reading
achievement.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 6383.
Applicable Regulations: (a) The Education Department General
Administrative Regulations (EDGAR) in 34 CFR parts 75, 77, 79, 80, 81,
82, 84, 85, 97, 98, and 99. (b) The notice of final clarification of
eligible local activities, published in the Federal Register on April
5, 2004 (69 FR 17894).
II. Award Information
Type of Award: Discretionary grants.
Estimated Available Funds: $18,901,586. Contingent upon the
availability of funds and quality of applications, the Secretary may
make additional awards in FY 2007 from the list of unfunded applicants
from this competition.
Estimated Range of Awards: $30,000-$300,000.
Note: Actual award amounts will be based on the number of
schools and students served by the project.
Estimated Average Size of Awards: $190,000.
Estimated Number of Awards: 100.
Note: The Department is not bound by any estimates in this
notice.
Project Period: Up to 12 months.
III. Eligibility Information
1. Eligible Applicants: LEAs in which at least 20 percent of the
students served by the LEA are from families with incomes below the
poverty line based on the most recent satisfactory data available from
the U.S. Census Bureau at the time this notice is published. These data
are Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates for school districts for
income year 2003. A list of LEAs with their family poverty rates (based
on these Census Bureau data) is posted on our Web site at: http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/eligibility.html.
2. Cost Sharing or Matching: This program does not involve cost
sharing or matching, but does involve supplement-not-supplant funding
provisions. Funds made available under this program must be used to
supplement, and not supplant, other Federal, State, and local funds
expended to carry out activities relating to library, technology, or
professional development activities (20 U.S.C. 6383(i)).
IV. Application and Submission Information
1. Address to Request Application Package: You may obtain an
application package via the Internet or from the Education Publications
Center (ED Pubs). To obtain a copy via the Internet use the following
addresses: http://www.grants.gov or http://www.ed.gov/programs/lsl/applicant.html. To obtain a copy from ED Pubs, write or call the
following: ED Pubs, P.O. Box 1398, Jessup, MD 20794-1398. Telephone
(toll free): 1-877-433-7827. Fax: (301) 470-1244. If you use a
telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may call (toll free):
1-877-576-7734.
You may also contact ED Pubs at its Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/edpubs.html or you may contact ED Pubs at its e-mail address:
[email protected].
If you request an application from ED Pubs, be sure to identify
this competition as follows: CFDA number 84.364A.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain a copy of the application
package in an alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print,
audiotape, or computer diskette) by contacting the program contact
person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT in section VII of
this notice.
2. Content and Form of Application Submission: Requirements
concerning the content of an application, together with the forms you
must submit, are in the application package for this program. An
Eligibility Form is included in the application package. You must fill
out the Eligibility Form, following the instructions provided in the
application package.
Page Limit: The application narrative is where you, the applicant,
address the selection criteria that reviewers use to evaluate your
application. You must limit the narrative to the equivalent of no more
than 15 pages, using the following standards:
A ``page'' is 8.5 x 11, on one side
only, with 1 margins at the top, bottom, and both sides.
Double space (no more than three lines per vertical inch)
all text in the application narrative, including titles, headings,
footnotes, quotations, references, and captions, as well as all text in
charts, tables, figures, and graphs.
Use a font that is either 12 point or larger.
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The page limit does not apply to the forms, budget section, budget
justification, assurances and certifications, one-page abstract,
endnotes, or resumes. However, you must include all of the application
narrative in the narrative section. Charter Schools and State
Administered Schools must include some form of documentation from their
State Educational Agency (SEA) confirming eligibility for this program.
This documentation is not counted toward the page limit.
Our reviewers will not read any pages of your application that:
Exceed the page limit if you apply these standards; or
Exceed the equivalent of the page limit if you apply other
standards.
Appendices to the narrative are not permitted, with the exception
of resumes and endnotes. None of the material sent as appendices to the
narrative, with the exception of resumes and endnotes, will be sent to
the reviewers.
3. Submission Dates and Times:
Applications Available: February 10, 2006.
Deadline for Transmittal of Applications: April 11, 2006.
Applications for grants under this program must be submitted
electronically using the Grants.gov Apply site (Grants.gov). For
information (including dates and times) about how to submit your
application electronically or by mail or hand delivery if you qualify
for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, please refer
to section IV. 6. Other Submission Requirements in this notice.
We do not consider an application that does not comply with the
deadline requirements.
Deadline for Intergovernmental Review: June 12, 2006.
4. Intergovernmental Review: This program is subject to Executive
Order 12372 and the regulations in 34 CFR part 79. Information about
Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs under Executive Order
12372 is in the application package for this program.
5. Funding Restrictions: We reference regulations outlining funding
restrictions in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice.
6. Other Submission Requirements: Applications for grants under
this program must be submitted electronically unless you qualify for an
exception to this requirement in accordance with the instructions in
this section.
a. Electronic Submission of Applications. Applications for grants
under the Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program-CFDA
Number 84.364A must be submitted electronically using the Grants.gov
Apply site at: http://www.grants.gov. Through this site, you will be
able to download a copy of the application package, complete it
offline, and then upload and submit your application. You may not e-
mail an electronic copy of a grant application to us.
We will reject your application if you submit it in paper format
unless, as described elsewhere in this section, you qualify for one of
the exceptions to the electronic submission requirement and submit, no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date, a written
statement to the Department that you qualify for one of these
exceptions. Further information regarding calculation of the date that
is two weeks before the application deadline date is provided later in
this section under Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement.
You may access the electronic grant application for Improving
Literacy Through School Libraries program at: http://www.grants.gov.
You must search for the downloadable application package for this
program by the CFDA number. Do not include the CFDA number's alpha
suffix in your search.
Please note the following:
When you enter the Grants.gov site, you will find
information about submitting an application electronically through the
site, as well as the hours of operation.
Applications received by Grants.gov are time and date
stamped. Your application must be fully uploaded and submitted, and
must be date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system no later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. Except as
otherwise noted in this section, we will not consider your application
if it is date/time stamped by the Grants.gov system later than 4:30
p.m., Washington, DC time, on the application deadline date. When we
retrieve your application from Grants.gov, we will notify you if we are
rejecting your application because it was date/time stamped by the
Grants.gov system after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
application deadline date.
The amount of time it can take to upload an application
will vary depending on a variety of factors including the size of the
application and the speed of your Internet connection. Therefore, we
strongly recommend that you do not wait until the application deadline
date to begin the submission process through Grants.gov.
You should review and follow the Education Submission
Procedures for submitting an application through Grants.gov that are
included in the application package for this competition to ensure that
you submit your application in a timely manner to the Grants.gov
system. You can also find the Education Submission Procedures
pertaining to Grants.gov at http://e-Grants.ed.gov/help/GrantsgovSubmissionProcedures.pdf.
To submit your application via Grants.gov, you must
complete all of the steps in the Grants.gov registration process (see
http://www.Grants.gov/GetStarted). These steps include (1) registering
your organization, (2) registering yourself as an Authorized
Organization Representative (AOR), and (3) getting authorized as an AOR
by your organization. Details on these steps are outlined in the
Grants.gov 3-Step Registration Guide (see http://www.grants.gov/assets/GrantsgovCoBrandBrochure8x11.pdf). You also must provide on your
application the same D-U-N-S Number used with this registration. Please
note that the registration process may take five or more business days
to complete, and you must have completed all registration steps to
allow you to successfully submit an application via Grants.gov.
You will not receive additional point value because you
submit your application in electronic format, nor will we penalize you
if you qualify for an exception to the electronic submission
requirement, as described elsewhere in this section, and submit your
application in paper format.
You must submit all documents electronically, including
all information typically included on the Application for Federal
Education Assistance (ED 424), Budget Information--Non-Construction
Programs (ED 524), and all necessary assurances and certifications. You
must attach any narrative sections of your application as files in a
.DOC (document), .RTF (rich text), or .PDF (Portable Document) format.
If you upload a file type other than the three file types specified
above or submit a password protected file, we will not review that
material.
Your electronic application must comply with any page
limit requirements described in this notice.
After you electronically submit your application, you will
receive an automatic acknowledgment from Grants.gov that contains a
Grants.gov tracking number. The Department will retrieve your
application from
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Grants.gov and send you a second confirmation by e-mail that will
include a PR/Award number (an ED-specified identifying number unique to
your application).
We may request that you provide us original signatures on
forms at a later date.
Application Deadline Date Extension in Case of Technical Issues
with the Grants.gov System: If you are prevented from electronically
submitting your application on the application deadline date because of
technical problems with the Grants.gov system, we will grant you an
extension until 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, the following business
day to enable you to transmit your application electronically, or by
hand delivery. You also may mail your application by following the
mailing instructions as described elsewhere in this notice. If you
submit an application after 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, on the
deadline date, please contact the person listed elsewhere in this
notice under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT, and provide an
explanation of the technical problem you experienced with Grants.gov,
along with the Grants.gov Support Desk Case Number (if available). We
will accept your application if we can confirm that a technical problem
occurred with the Grants.gov system and that that problem affected your
ability to submit your application by 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time,
on the application deadline date. The Department will contact you after
a determination is made on whether your application will be accepted.
Note: Extensions referred to in this section apply only to the
unavailability of or technical problems with the Grants.gov system.
We will not grant you an extension if you failed to fully register
to submit your application to Grants.gov before the deadline date
and time or if the technical problem you experienced is unrelated to
the Grants.gov system.
Exception to Electronic Submission Requirement: You qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, and may submit your
application in paper format, if you are unable to submit an application
through the Grants.gov system because:
You do not have access to the Internet; or
You do not have the capacity to upload large documents to
the Grants.gov system;
and
No later than two weeks before the application deadline
date (14 calendar days or, if the fourteenth calendar day before the
application deadline date falls on a Federal holiday, the next business
day following the Federal holiday), you mail or fax a written statement
to the Department, explaining which of the two grounds for an exception
prevent you from using the Internet to submit your application. If you
mail your written statement to the Department, it must be postmarked no
later than two weeks before the application deadline date. If you fax
your written statement to the Department, we must receive the faxed
statement no later than two weeks before the application deadline date.
Address and mail or fax your statement to: Irene Harwarth, U.S.
Department of Education, room 3W227, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20202-6200. Fax: (202) 260-8969.
Your paper application must be submitted in accordance with the
mail or hand delivery instructions described in this notice.
b. Submission of Paper Applications by Mail. If you qualify for an
exception to the electronic submission requirement, you may mail
(through the U.S. Postal Service or a commercial carrier), your
application to the Department. You must mail the original and two
copies of your application, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the applicable following address:
By mail through the U.S. Postal Service: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number 84.364A), 400
Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20202-4260;
or
By mail through a commercial carrier: U.S. Department of Education,
Application Control Center--Stop 4260, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.364A), 7100 Old Landover Road, Landover, MD 20785-1506.
Regardless of which address you use, you must show proof of mailing
consisting of one of the following:
(1) A legibly dated U.S. Postal Service postmark,
(2) A legible mail receipt with the date of mailing stamped by the
U.S. Postal Service,
(3) A dated shipping label, invoice, or receipt from a commercial
carrier, or
(4) Any other proof of mailing acceptable to the Secretary of the
U.S. Department of Education.
If you mail your application through the U.S. Postal Service, we do
not accept either of the following as proof of mailing:
(1) A private metered postmark, or
(2) A mail receipt that is not dated by the U.S. Postal Service.
If your application is postmarked after the application deadline
date, we will not consider your application.
Note: The U.S. Postal Service does not uniformly provide a dated
postmark. Before relying on this method, you should check with your
local post office.
c. Submission of Paper Applications by Hand Delivery. If you
qualify for an exception to the electronic submission requirement, you
(or a courier service) may deliver your paper application to the
Department by hand. You must deliver the original and two copies of
your application by hand, on or before the application deadline date,
to the Department at the following address: U.S. Department of
Education, Application Control Center, Attention: (CFDA Number
84.364A), 550 12th Street, SW., Room 7041, Potomac Center Plaza,
Washington, DC 20202-4260.
The Application Control Center accepts hand deliveries daily
between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Washington, DC time, except Saturdays,
Sundays and Federal holidays.
Note for Mail or Hand Delivery of Paper Applications: If you mail
or hand deliver your application to the Department:
(1) You must indicate on the envelope and--if not provided by the
Department--in Item 4 of the Application for Federal Education
Assistance (ED 424) the CFDA number--and suffix letter, if any--of the
competition under which you are submitting your application.
(2) The Application Control Center will mail a grant application
receipt acknowledgment to you. If you do not receive the grant
application receipt acknowledgment within 15 business days from the
application deadline date, you should call the U.S. Department of
Education Application Control Center at (202) 245-6288.
V. Application Review Information
1. Selection Criteria: We use the following statutory selection
criteria to evaluate applications for new grants under this
competition. The maximum score for all of these criteria is 100 points.
The maximum score for each criterion is indicated in parentheses.
We evaluate an application by determining how well the proposed
project meets the following criteria:
(a) Meeting the purpose of the statute (10 points). How well the
proposed project addresses the intended outcome of the statute: To
improve student reading skills and academic achievement by providing
students with increased access to up-to-date school library materials;
a well-equipped,
[[Page 7385]]
technologically advanced school library media center; and well-trained,
professionally certified school library media specialists.
(b) Need for school library resources (10 points). How well the
applicant demonstrates the need for school library media improvement,
based on the age and condition of school library media resources,
including book collections; access of school library media centers to
advanced technology; and the availability of well-trained,
professionally certified school library media specialists, in schools
served by the applicant.
(c) Use of funds (50 points). How well the applicant will use the
funds made available through the grant to carry out one or more of the
following activities that meet its demonstrated needs:
(1) Acquiring up-to-date school library media resources, including
books.
(2) Acquiring and using advanced technology, incorporated into the
curricula of the school, to develop and enhance students' skills in
retrieving and making use of information and in critical thinking.
(3) Facilitating Internet links and other resource-sharing networks
among schools and school library media centers, and public and academic
libraries.
(4) Providing professional development (as described in the notice
of final clarification of eligible local activities published in the
Federal Register on April 5, 2004 (69 FR 17894)) for school library
media specialists that is designed to improve literacy in grades K-3,
and for school library media specialists as described in section
1222(d)(2) of the ESEA and providing activities that foster increased
collaboration between school library media specialists, teachers, and
administrators.
(5) Providing students with access to school libraries during non-
school hours, including the hours before and after school, during
weekends, and during summer vacation periods.
(d) Use of scientifically based research (10 points). How well the
applicant will use programs and materials that are grounded in
scientifically based research, as defined in section 9101(37) of the
ESEA, in carrying out one or more of the activities described under
criterion (c).
(e) Broad-based involvement and coordination (10 points). How well
the applicant will extensively involve school library media
specialists, teachers, administrators, and parents in the proposed
project activities and effectively coordinate the funds and activities
provided under this program with other literacy, library, technology,
and professional development funds and activities.
(f) Evaluation of quality and impact (10 points). How well the
applicant will collect and analyze data on the quality and impact of
the proposed project activities, including the extent to which the
availability of, the access to, and the use of up-to-date school
library media resources in the elementary schools and secondary schools
served by the applicant increase; and the impact of the project on the
reading skills of students.
2. Review and Selection Process: An additional factor we consider
in selecting an application for an award is the equitable distribution
of grants across geographic regions and among LEAs serving urban and
rural areas.
VI. Award Administration Information
1. Award Notices: If your application is successful, we notify your
U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators and send you a Grant Award
Notification (GAN). We may also notify you informally.
If your application is not evaluated or not selected for funding,
we notify you.
2. Administrative and National Policy Requirements: We identify
administrative and national policy requirements in the application
package and reference these and other requirements in the Applicable
Regulations section of this notice.
We reference the regulations outlining the terms and conditions of
an award in the Applicable Regulations section of this notice and
include these and other specific conditions in the GAN. The GAN also
incorporates your approved application as part of your binding
commitments under the grant.
3. Reporting: At the end of your project period, you must submit a
final performance report, including financial information, as directed
by the Secretary.
4. Performance Measures: In response to the Government Performance
and Results Act (GPRA), the Department developed two measures for
evaluating the overall effectiveness of the Improving Literacy Through
School Libraries program. These measures gauge improvement in student
achievement and resources in the schools and districts served by the
Improving Literacy Through School Libraries program by assessing
increases in: (1) The percentage of participating schools and districts
that exceed State adequate yearly progress targets under ESEA Title I
for reading achievement for all students; and (2) The school library
media collections at participating schools, compared to schools not
participating in the program.
The Department will collect data for these measures from grantees'
annual performance reports and other data sources.
VII. Agency Contact
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Irene Harwarth, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 3W227, Washington, DC 20202-
6200. Telephone: (202) 401-3751 or by e-mail: [email protected].
If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD), you may
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS) at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities may obtain this document in an
alternative format (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, or computer
diskette) on request to the program contact person listed in this
section.
VIII. Other Information
Electronic Access to This Document: You may view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister.
To use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available
free at this site. If you have questions about using PDF, call the U.S.
Government Printing Office (GPO), toll free, at 1-888-293-6498; or in
the Washington, DC, area at (202) 512-1530.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
Dated: February 7, 2006.
Henry L. Johnson,
Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. E6-1906 Filed 2-9-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P